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Obaseki cuts expenditure, calls for change

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said his administration would cut expenditure and stick to available resources to help the government cope with the reality on ground, while also calling for a change of people’s attitude to expenses.

This was on Friday, during a courtesy visit by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) at Edo State Government House in Benin City, the state’s capital.

Explaining, the Governor said that Nigeria was making money, but people’s attitude towards expenses accounted for the country’s present condition, emphasising that attitudinal change would be a step in the right direction for facilitating nation growth.

Frowning at unnecessary expenditures, which he described as frivolities, he declared that avoidance of wasteful spending motivated his decision not to acquire a new bulletproof car, which he was entitled to.

He said, “I am governor of Edo State, I am entitled to a brand new bulletproof car, but I have not bought because we cannot afford it. I am using what my predecessor left, but I have got lady mechanic who is refurbishing all government cars”.

Meanwhile, he also asserted that no state pensioner was owed any entitlements, and that the state was not responsible for local government retirees as the local governments were well funded, and should provide accounts of their income and expenditure for the past 10 years, as this would help the pensioners understand how their money was spent.

Leading the ANAN delegation, Barr. Felix Ahonsi noted that citizens of the state were already benefiting from the developmental stride of the governor, while also commending his policies to deliver the dividends of democracy in the areas of human capital development; infrastructural development; economic revolution; and repositioning of the local government council for service delivery.

Ahonsi said ANAN was ready to collaborate with the government in accounting, auditing, training and other relevant areas.